Rockstar suing BBC over GTA drama

The upcoming BBC drama about the story of Grand Theft Auto’s creation has hit a legal barrier now that Rockstar Games is suing the broadcaster.

The studio has filed a lawsuit against the Beeb for trademark infringement based on the 90-minute drama announced earlier this year.

Reports have previously suggested that the original creators of GTA were not involved in the project, and now IGN reports that Rockstar has “attempted multiple times” to contact the BBC about the use of its trademarks.

“While holders of the trademarks referenced in the film title and its promotion, Rockstar Games has had no involvement with this project,” the studio said in a statement. 

“Our goal is to ensure that our trademarks are not misused in the BBC’s pursuit of an unofficial depiction of purported events related to Rockstar Games. We have attempted multiple times to resolve this matter with the BBC without any meaningful resolution.

“It is our obligation to protect our intellectual property and unfortunately, in this case, litigation was necessary.”

The drama is currently title Game Changer and will star Daniel Radcliffe as Rockstar boss Sam Houser and Bill Paxton as anti-games lawyer Jack Thompson.

Filming began back in April and it was due to be shown later this year.